James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Joe told stories of living for a dollar a day in New York City when he was a student at the “School for Cartoonists and Illustrators” (later redubbed “School of Visual Arts”). Tarzan artist Burne Hogarth was one of his teachers. Later Joe inked most of Jack Kirby’s “Fantastic Four” for Marvel during the classic years.

I gave Joe a printed-out version of the recent blog post on restoring school funding, so he could read every one of the wonderful comments you all made. Joe hadn’t seen the post because he doesn’t do computers: “Wouldn’t know how to plug the thing in,” he said.

He still inks Spiderman Sunday comics at age 83, though he says you can’t get as good a sable brush these days. And he had to switch to a pen because they print the comics so small now.

I met Joe a couple of years back at a NY comic con and had him sign my copy of his great bio "Brush Strokes with greatness" http://www.amazon.com/Brush-Strokes-Greatness-Life-Sinnott/dp/1893905721/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281029070&sr=1-1He got a kick out of me saying that he was one of the first artists whose work I recognised as a young comic fan in the '70's. He made everybody's pencils look great.

Dan, according to Joe, they lack the spring, and I agree. It has something to do with the climate the Kolinskys live in or something. Maybe someone knows why. A good watercolor brush should snap back, not flop over. Joe was passionate about that point.

I've heard once that the original breed of Kolinskies (which apparently were weasels rather than true sables) went extinct and that present-day "Kolinsky" hairs come from a different animal. Supposedly this substitute's hair lacks the springiness of the kolinsky's fur.

Does anyone know whether this is true? I am definitely convinced that the Series 7's don't point as well as they did 30 years ago.

It's a mild relief to hear someone who knows far more than I say the Kolinsky sables these days aren't what they're cracked up to be. The one WN Series 7 I invested in does "flop over," not "spring back." I felt like a Philistine who just didn't get the subtle superiority of Series 7 whenever I bypassed the sable and picked up a synthetic. Some synthetics seem to give more precise and dependable variation in a painted line.